Sasaki, the feeling is LAD, but the reality is that a pitching coach who specializes in fostering SD Aces waits
Dec 30, 2024
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The Los Angeles Dodgers, considered the most likely club, finally faced Rocky Sasaki. Orange County Register reporter Bill Plunkett said on the 29th (Korea time) 'The Dodgers, considered the most likely club to sign with right-hander Sasaki, met with him and agent Joel Wolf and joined the other five teams that had negotiations'
Sasaki, who received presentation materials from about 20 clubs, has been in face-to-face contact with clubs that have passed the first interview since the 20th. It has been confirmed that he held doubleheader negotiations against the New York Mets and New York Yankees on the 20th, and met the Chicago Cubs on the 21st, the Texas Rangers on the 23rd, and the San Francisco Giants on the 24th.
As the sixth club, the Dodgers faced Sasaki.
Sasaki has never revealed his preferred club. However, the reason why the Dodgers are expected to become the strongest entering club is because of their winning power, pitcher development system, geographical advantage, and the first ones, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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However, Sasaki is regarded as a reserve ace with the quality to play the role of the first and second starters no matter which team he goes to right away.
The Dodgers' International Cyning Bonus Pool in 2025 is $5.146,200, the smallest of the 30 clubs along with San Francisco. But this is not an important factor. When Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels at the end of 2017, the Cyning Bonus received was $2.315 million. What Ohtani saw as important was neither the winning power nor the money. He chose the Angels as a team that guarantees his desired pitching and hitting.
The same goes for Sasaki. I don't know what he wants most, but it has nothing to do with money. In the Dodgers, it is widely expected that there will be few advantages in terms of marketing due to the shadow of Ohtani and Yamamoto, but some predict that it can create a synergy effect.
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Coach Nibla is known to be the main player who raised Michael Young and Seth Lugo to ace-class starting pitchers. He can greatly help Sasaki adapt to and foster Major League Baseball.
Lugo pitched mostly in the bullpen for the New York Mets until 2022 before coming to San Diego in 2023 as his first full-time starter, going 8-7 with a 3.57 ERA in 26 games. Lugo, who succeeded in transforming into a starter, became an FA in December last year and signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Kansas City Royals, then went 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA in 33 games this year, ranking second in the AL Cy Young Award voting.
The same goes for King. As a bullpen pitcher for the Yankees from 2019 to 2023, he moved to San Diego this year and pitched 173 ⅔ innings in 31 games (30 starts), rising to the ace level with 13-9 losses and a 2.95 ERA. Ranked seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting. It is rumored that both players thanked coach Nibla.
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General manager AJ Prelor said, `A pitcher-building team led by Ruben and those around him is ideal for pitchers. I heard it directly from the pitchers. It's because of the conviction that you want to come to San Diego that you get better. We are proud of this asset." This is the part that can appeal to Sasaki.
The deadline for Sasaki to end his contract with major league clubs, which was announced on the 10th of last month, is 7 a.m. on January 24 next year.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
